Welcome to THE TRUE NORTH COLLECTIVE℠ PODCAST: SEASON 3! With co-hosts Rachel Bellotti (she/her) and Jenell Riesner (she/her), this is a gathering of un-sugar-coated conversations celebrating the untold stories of everyday people fearlessly finding and living their true north. 

In our own search to discover and live from our TRUE NORTH, we continue to meet many interesting, courageous people from all walks of life, doing all sorts of amazing things to live life in their own unique way. Stories from all over the world. Stories with heart. Stories with grit. Stories with plot twists. Stories going untold - until now. This season, we celebrate these untold stories of everyday people who are fearlessly living their true north and inspiring each of us to do the same.

Today, we talk to Jordan Mendoza (he/him), father of five, Training + Development Professional for Impulse Consulting, and the creator + host of Blaze Your Own Trail Podcast. We recently joined his community to share about living our true north and realized we wanted to share his story and all life has thrown his way. We talk about freestyle breakdancing, growing up in poverty, moving around a lot as a kid, seeking out the “no’s” in life, how sales relates to life, leaning into generational adversity, experiencing police profiling as a kid, being responsible for your own self-awareness, trust, pivotal moments + stories, almost dying several times, meeting a biological father in the Philippines, and learning from a 3rd world country. This beautiful and endearing soul has experienced lifetimes and is truly a beacon for sharing your stories as a way of bridging a connection to humxnity.  

*note: this episode includes explicit language appropriate for those ages 16+

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

• #amplifymelanatedvoices @sonyareneetaylor
• #amplifymelanatedvoices @mrjross
• My Girl
• Beat Street
• Breakin’
• Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo
• Mindbody
• Social Emotional Learning (SEL)
• Meyers-Briggs Assessment
• Clifton Strengths Assessment
• TKI conflict style Assessment
• The 5 dysfunctions of a team
• Stephen Covey
• Music from: https://www.jukedeck.com/

3 KEY TAKEAWAYS:

1. Instead of looking at rejection and “no’s” as the worst thing in the world, or proof of your valuelessness and lack of self worth, what if you flipped it? What if a “no” was simply a data point that gives you more clarity around what someone doesn’t want and therefore now you are closer to what they DO want? What if no was an acronym for Next Opportunity and it was an invitation to dig deeper for understanding and nuance so that you might get closer to what is actually a yes? What if no wasn’t the end point, but instead the beginning?
2. When’s the last time you actually asked someone how they were doing and honestly, truly listened? We so often autopilot the gordialities of life without much sincerity and with haste to move onto the next thing. Where in your life can you practice genuine curiosity with those around you and stop to pay attention to their words, body language, and energy. How are YOU today? No, really, how are you?
3. You can be amazing and still make mistakes. You can make a ton of mistakes and still be amazing. There is power in realizing that being humxn is not about being 1-sided, but about being multifaceted and contrasting and complex. When we share the real stories of our lives with vulnerability and authentically (versus the perfectly curated versions), we can actually create optimism for the world. We can be a living example for others that it is ok to be exactly who you are and get through all that life throws at you and still blaze your own amazing trail in whatever way that means to you.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [1:00] Go watch My Girl now, if you haven’t ever seen it!
• [1:55] Swimming the South China Sea
• [3:15] Breakdancing to break into a new school
• [8:05] AD: Jenell has launched a new youtube series called That Girl Got Ghosted - whoo! Think of it like the bachelorette meets ghost stories/haunted hotels.  If you wanna support her new venture, go check it out, like it, share it + show her some love. <3
• [9:00] Welcome, Jordan!
• [10:00] Growing up poor as a springboard to learning how to communicate with people 
• [11:15] Learning how to get rejected 
• [13:30] Finding + seeking out the “no’s”
• [16:50] 90% of sales is people buying into who YOU are
• [20:40] Using generational adversity to build inner strength
• [23:40] Experiencing police profiling + brutality as a kid
• [28:30] Demanding more understanding + protocols around mental health conversations + support in the professional world + life
• [32:30] What if?
• [34:00] Self-awareness as an essential skill
• [38:00] You can be amazing + you can be shitty 
• [40:15] AD: We’re currently looking for everyday humxns to join us as guests for season 4 to talk about all things authenticity + living your TRUE NORTH! If you are interested or know of someone who you think would be perfect, please reach out via hello@thetruenorthcollective.org or IG - we’d love to connect!
• [41:10] Always self-assess first when doing personality tests
• [48:40] Trust 
• [50:00] Mis-typing in Meyers-Briggs
• [53:40] Self-assessments with younger generations
• [54:50] Becoming the BEE MAN!
• [58:00] AD: We have big dreams to grow this podcast + community! If you love this space as much as we do, we’d love if you’d share this podcast, recommend it, leave a review and let people know what we are all creating over here in this small corner of the world. Thank you!
• [58:30] Pivotal moments + almost dying several times
• [1:05:00] Meeting a biological father from the Philippines
• [1:08:50] Learning about happiness from a 3rd world country
• [1:13:00] The importance of sharing
• [1:15:20] How do you live your TRUE NORTH?
• [1:15:36] Reach out to Jordan via IG @jordanjmendoza or find him on LinkedIn + make sure to give his podcast a listen Blaze Your Own Trail Podcast!